One Night
by Sailor Grape
Summary: Serenity faces the pain of being kept apart from her love. How can she be with him when she's promised to another?


I know, it's been a loooooooooong time since I got a new fic out, but here it is! It's  
short, but it's effective. Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine... The song is One Night by the Corrs... It's a  
great song. Everyone should listen to it!  
  
  
  
One Night  
  
  
Serenity pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window, watching the  
rain beat down relentlessly against the earth. She sighed, a single tear trickling down  
her cheek and landing on the glass rose she held.  
  
Her eyes watched as the tear prismed on the opaque deep red glass and settled  
into one of the folds of the flower petal, content in its location.  
  
The glass rose had been a gift from Endymion, the prince of the Earth, on her first  
visit to his kingdom. He had heard of her fondness for roses, so he hired the most  
talented glass sculptor to make it for her.  
  
Serenity had put the rose on the table beside her bed in the guestroom, the same  
place it rested in her own bedroom since. She looked at it every day, thinking about  
Endymion.  
  
She wiped her eyes. No, tonight was not the time to get upset. She was getting  
married tomorrow! So why was she not happy?  
  
Because her mother had betrothed her to the prince of Callisto. She loved  
Endymion, but they could never be.  
  
Rising from her chair, Serenity turned away from the window and placed the rose  
back on her table.  
  
She wished she could see Endymion at least one last time.  
  
  
Long day, and I'm ready  
I'm waiting for your call  
Cause I've made up my mind  
  
  
As a tapping sounded, Serenity was startled out of her thoughts. She glanced  
around suspiciously, trying to make out where the sound was coming from. The  
tapping started again, and she pinpointed it as coming from her balcony doors.  
  
She took a step toward the balcony, stopping as the tapping stopped. 'The wind...   
It's just the wind,' she thought numbly, trying to stay clam. Stepping closer to the  
doors, she peered out into the stormy night, seeing nothing that would make such a  
noise.  
  
Suddenly a face appeared behind the glass, Serenity shrieked, jumping back.  
  
"Serenity, please let me in..." the figure called. "It's me..."  
  
'That voice...' Her heart jumped from the memories. She rushed to the doors,  
throwing them open to reveal Endymion.  
  
He stood in the downpour, his ebony hair plastered against his forehead and falling  
into his midnight blue eyes, his clothes heavy with the weight of thousands of clinging  
water droplets.  
  
"You're soaked!" she pulled him into the room, closing the door behind him. "What-  
how did you get here?"  
  
"I had to see you again, before tomorrow," he said through chattering teeth. "I  
didn't want to let you go. I don't want to let you go."  
  
"I don't want you to have to let me go..."  
  
  
My heart aches with a hunger  
And the want that you were mine  
No I cannot deny  
  
  
"If you don't dry off those clothes, you're going to get sick from cold." Serenity led  
Endymion over to her vanity chair and gently pushed him down into it. She proceeded  
to unclasp the cape that weighed down his shoulders.  
  
"I can do this myself," he protested.  
  
"Not with shaking fingers you can't," she told him firmly, throwing the waterlogged  
cape on the floor beside him. She knelt down and tugged off his boots and socks.  
"What possessed you to come here like this?" she moaned, accidentally flinging her  
hand into the boots and knocking them over. She watched as water spilled out and  
puddled around them. "You shouldn't have come."  
  
"I couldn't not come," he murmured, gently turning her face to him. "You know  
that."  
  
"But I am getting married tomorrow!"  
  
"Hai, you are getting married tomorrow. That is precisely the reason I had to see  
you again."  
  
Serenity clasped his hands between her own, trying to warm them. "You are going  
to become ill," she scolded, changing the subject.  
  
"I already am. I am ill without you." He pulled her up, standing in front of her.   
"You are my world, Serenity. You are a part of me." He drew her into an embrace.  
  
Serenity's head spun with so many emotions. As much as she wanted to stay  
with him forever, her life had been promised to another. She had pondered running  
away with Endymion, but as an only heiress, she wouldn't risk the ruin of her family  
and kingdom for her own happiness. The marriage was written in stone.  
  
She tried to muffle a sob, but it didn't escape Endymion's ears. "Serenity?"  
  
"I don't want to marry someone else," she wept, her voice cracking. "I don't want  
him. I want you."  
  
"And you have me, Serenity. At this moment, tonight, forever. Even if we can't be  
together, you'll always have my heart.  
  
At these consoling words she kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck,  
ignoring the spreading cold as the water from his rain-soaked clothes seeped through  
to her own.  
  
The chill betrayed her as she shivered in his arms. Endymion broke away, silently  
cursing himself. "You're going to catch pneumonia because of me," he told her. "You  
should change."  
  
She eyed him wearily, unblinking, unmoving.  
  
"I should go," he said flatly at her unresponsiveness.  
  
"Iie, don't go." Serenity impulsively grabbed Endymion's hand as he turned away.  
  
"I won't stay if you don't want me to..."  
  
"But I do," she answered softly, walking around to face him. "Stay with me." She  
held his gaze. "Tonight."  
  
Endymion could not hide his surprise. "Stay with you... tonight?" he croaked out,  
his eyes wide and unblinking.  
  
"If you don't want to..." she shrugged, dropping his hand.  
  
"Serenity, there is nothing in this galaxy I want more than you."  
  
And in that instant, she knew he spoke the truth.  
  
  
So for one night  
Is it all right  
That I give you  
My heart, my love, my heart-  
Just for one night?  
  
  
Serenity's eyes closed as the space between them lessened. A sigh escaped as  
his lips grazed hers, an action that teased her senses. When he allowed their lips to  
meet again in a fierce kiss, Serenity had to grasp his shoulders tightly to keep her  
knees from buckling.  
  
Pulling back, he searched her eyes. They glittered in the light, mirroring his own  
feelings, holding no hesitations.  
  
He crushed her mouth with his, bringing her closer. Her hands pressed up flat  
against his chest, defining all of the muscles that strained against his wet shirt.  
  
As Endymion left a trail of hot kisses across her jawbone and down her arched  
neck, Serenity allowed him to lead her to her bed.  
  
They fell back upon it, neither one letting go of the other. In a tangle of emotion  
and heartbeats that throbbed together as one, they surrendered themselves to the  
passion of the night.  
  
  
My body, my soul  
Just for one night  
My love, my love  
For one night, one night, one night  
  
  
Serenity stirred, flipping over and clutching her pillow. After a few moments of  
restlessness her eyes cracked open. One glance over at the empty spot beside her  
was all it took to convince herself that last night had been a dream. Why, then, did her  
room now contain a garden of roses?  
  
She shot straight up, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. Lying back down,  
she remembered her tearful goodbye to Endymion as he left- for the last time.  
  
Although he was physically gone, she felt him still with her.  
  
  
When morning awakes me  
Well I know I'll be alone  
And I feel I'll be fine  
So don't you worry about me  
I'm not empty on my own  
For inside I'm alive  
  
  
Today was the day, the first day of the rest of her life. She was getting married.   
But she felt like her life were about to end.  
  
A tear slowly trickled down her cheek, followed by another as they cascaded to the  
blanket covering her.  
  
'I can't do this,' she thought painfully, her heart twisting. 'I can't, and I won't. I want  
to be with Endymion, the man I love.'  
  
But then she flashed back to a conversation they had had when holding each other  
last night.  
  
"You are so strong," he had told her, kissing the palm of her hand.  
  
"How?" she whispered, unconvinced.  
  
"You would sacrifice your own happiness for the good of your country. Most people  
would abandon their responsibilities, but not you. I love you even more for that."  
  
"You are the only person who understands... I honestly don't know if I can do this."  
  
"You'll know when the time comes," he murmured, pulling her closer in his arms.   
"You'll know."  
  
And she did. He had been right last night. She knew what she had to do.  
  
Dragging herself out of bed, she began brushing the tangles out of her long golden  
mane, all the while thinking about Endymion.  
  
  
That for one night  
It was so right  
That I gave you  
My heart, my love, my heart  
Just for one night  
  
  
Serenity's thoughts briefly switched to her husband-to-be. Not much older than  
she, he was bright, confident, handsome, sweet, and extremely likable. But he had  
one flaw: he wasn't Endymion.  
  
'I wonder if he has a Serenity to my Endymion... Wouldn't that be ironic, two  
people trapped in a loveless marriage while their lovers looked on.'  
  
"Now Serenity, no more bitterness," she scolded herself aloud. "You know this is  
what you have to do. There's no use in making yourself miserable."  
  
But she couldn't shake last night out of her head.  
  
  
My body, my soul  
Just for one night  
My love, I loved  
For one night, one night, one night  
  
  
Serenity, standing in front of her mirror, tried to picture herself at the wedding in her  
gown, walking down the aisle toward her soon-to-be husband and a commitment she  
could never get out of.  
  
The image would not come to her. Instead she pictured her and Endymion,  
entangled in her bedsheets, wrapped in each others' arms. She longed to feel that  
warmth again.  
  
  
That for one night  
It was so right  
That I gave you  
My heart, my love, my heart  
Just for one night  
  
  
It would not come again, though, that warmth. She would never again feel his  
hands holding her to him, his breath warm against her own as he whispered her name,  
or his lips, the kiss claiming hers as his own.  
  
Serenity had no more tears left to cry. She knew what she was doing was for the  
best, if not for her then for her people.  
  
Lifting her chin just slightly, she proceeded to get ready for her wedding, all of her  
thoughts lying in another place.  
  
  
My body, my soul  
Just for one night  
My love, my love  
For one night, one night, one night  
  
  
  
Well, what did you think? I tried my best to capture all the emotion. I was actually  
thinking about doing a sequel. What do you guys think? Please review!! I love hearing  
what you have to say! 


End file.
